


At The End of My Life, I Will Be Able to Say That You Have Been Here All Along

by Laliseuse



Category: Arashi (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-09
Updated: 2015-10-18
Packaged: 2018-04-19 21:16:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4761293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Laliseuse/pseuds/Laliseuse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is a story of 5 boys who never even heard of Johnny's. Actually none of them ever did. This is about growing up with friendships that were built early in childhood or in the middle of adolescence. Family conflicts, annoying meddling sisters, gossipy neighbors and trying to figure out what to do with your life. (This is work is not complete yet but today is someone's birthday.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

  * For [muffinsome](https://archiveofourown.org/users/muffinsome/gifts).



> Because this is someone's birthday, I am posting this so that there is something to read. This is a work in progress and might pop up as snapshots where the story line isn't quite linear. 
> 
> There are several pairings (but maybe not what most would expect or like) and this is non-Beta'd (if that's a verb) on top of English being a second language. Hopefully it's clear enough to be somewhat an enjoyable read.

There was a lot of gossip in the neighbourhood, a plethora of stories to pass to the new housewife when she had been deemed worthy of being in the circle. Some stories had grown to the status of legend; you weren't really of importance until you had heard it hushed over a second or third pot of tea.

The tales of the two Ninomiya sisters was one of those. Daughters of an important business man, they had grown up to be their father's joy and pride. The girls never had a close relationship, Kazuko was younger by five years and couldn't catch up to her ambitious older sister, Yoko, who had always wanted to work, travel and marry well.

And so she did by getting scholarship to study overseas and came back to Japan with a degree in English with the intention to teach. Barely anyone had time to catch their breath when Yoko turned around to announce that she was going to marry a government official in a low key ceremony.  


Then the eldest Ninomiya daughter shed her name for her husband's and became a ghost in the neighbourhood. Anytime a fancy car was parked in the streets, housewives would peer from the window to see if they could catch a glimpse of her.

Visits were rare due to her work and her husband's but Yoko was still a dutiful daughter and would be there briefly to wish her father happy birthday or to honour her ancestors.

She was the embodiment of a successful life that housewives would tell their daughters or nieces or any girl in the neighbourhood. Work well and you will have a rich life like the eldest Ninomiya girl. The Sakurai family was even blessed with a healthy baby boy within three years of their marriage.  


Because you don't want to follow in the footsteps of the youngest, the housewives would say in warning.

Ninomiya the younger found herself pregnant before the age of twenty and she was not married when she gave birth. She had no money and no education and brought dishonour to her family, they would say dramatically hoping to hear gasp of horror in return.

It would be important to follow a few rules when retelling the tales of the Two Ninomiya sisters, one of them being don't tell it if Ms. Aiba is present. Ms. Chinen had just moved back to her childhood house with a new husband when she decided to be daring and do a retelling of the story- after all she had always been included in the circle- when she thought Ms. Aiba was the newcomer of the tea party having never met or heard of her.

All present still remember the harsh scolding they received and if your plate was overly spicy-no matter what you ordered- at the Aiba restaurant then it was your own fault for gossiping.

After all, time had twisted some of the facts. The way the housewives spoke made it sound like Kazuko was 14 years old when she became pregnant from a yakuza. She had been out of culinary school and had been working for a year when she met her children's father. The only scandal Kazuko admitted to commit was having children before her older sister.

She truly loved him and gave him all the chances her sanity was able to bear. They married when she was four months pregnant but were already separated before her daughter turned a year old. She requested a divorce two weeks before learning she was pregnant with her second child. Her divorce was not finalized until Kazunari was three months old but because she gave him her own last name, because her father made his grandson heir to his business, Kazuko had drawn on herself a target for all to prey on.

Little did people know that she didn't care. She made sure to change her daughter's name to Ninomiya before she went to school and went on living as a single mother.

She found work at a catering business and took part time job working in restaurants. When Chef Aiba broke his wrist while helping the delivery man, Kazuko gladly offered her services even if Chinese food was not her speciality. The eldest Aiba boy was in the same little league a Kazunari and the two had been inseparable for the past year. Thus solidified the friendship between the two women; both had a no nonsense attitude making them such a well matched pair. It also helped whenever Kazuko had work that her two children would head to the restaurant for a meal and help for their homework. She returned the favour whenever she could by driving the boys to their baseball practices.

It was good for Kazunari to finally have a friend, he always been a smart but shy child that was not getting the chance he deserved. A few teachers had hinted that he was being bullied in the schoolyard but her boy hated admitting defeat and would brush off her concerns by distracting her with his own questions.

If her sister lived closer, the two cousins might have been on better terms but they only saw each other a handful of times a year. But at same time, maybe it was better they didn't. Sho was a smart child but tended to be angry easily and Kazunari loved nothing more than to test his boundaries.  


Whenever it was Masaki-kun, the boy would pretend to be angry then would end up laughing it off under a minute. But Sho would hold the grudge and pout –something he took after from his father side- avoiding his younger cousin for hours. The problem was that Sho's older cousin, Kazue, was just as worse, leaving the boy twice as irritated every time he would step inside his aunt’s house.

It got better when Mai Sakurai was born and evened out the odds despite being 8 years younger. Sho, who had to learn to share his maternal grandfather's affection, didn't make any fuss when his sister was born. He actually revered the role of big brother and never minded sitting in the living room of the Ninomiya house and watching Mai wobble around with an almost parental gaze. He would be the first one to rush to her side when she fell or let out a whimper.

Kazue at 10 was the official babysitter whenever the adults had serious discussion in the dining room but Sho, 9, would hover like her shadow. And if Kazunari was utterly bored at the scene, he would slip away to Keikarou, the Aiba family's restaurant. He would greet Ms. Aiba knowing that if his mother or grandmother realised he was gone the first thing they'd do was call the restaurant, before walking to Masaki's room to either play games or drag him outside to play baseball in the field a street away.

Sho was sometimes tasked to bring his cousin back for dinner from the restaurant. Kazu would also bring Masaki's soccer ball and the three of them would play until they got hungry. Masaki would walk them home even if Kazuko would apologize that Masaki couldn't stay for dinner because they had company.

And the thing about children that Kazuko learned was that it wasn't that they grew up too fast, it was that they didn't stop. Even if you were trailing behind in remembrance of their firsts, they were trailing along towards adulthood with a constant rhythm while parents were too busy picturing their children’s faces as babies or toddler. And before you knew it, the family tree became a bit bigger.

Yoko and Shun had their third child, another boy when Sho was 13 years old and Mai was 5. And during that summer, Kazuko would receive calls from her sister on behalf of Sho asking to stay over for the weekend. A colloquy baby was not helping the busy teenager's sleep schedule and Kazuko would welcome him at the door. He always looked pitiful with his little luggage and weary look on his face. It would wash away quickly when Kazu would drag him all over town with Masaki in tow. Masaki and Sho were in the same school year but while Sho was attending Keio prep school and accumulating awards, Aiba's parents would joke that Masaki and Kazu would probably in the same grade soon. And not a moment too soon for someone to finally explain to Masaki how school worked. Not that Kazu was exactly a model student but he was smart and retained lessons with little efforts. His method of studying for an exam was making Masaki read the lesson plan while Kazu played videogames, as long as it worked Kazuko wouldn't forbid it from him. Though it might explain why Masaki was failing so badly.

When he turned 12, Kazu started junior high school in June at public school a forty five minutes train ride towards Tokyo. It was further than what Kazuko would have liked but it had a special art and sport program that had captivated Kazu enough to get him to take the exams. The fact that Masaki was already attending was another factor that helped the parents feel more at ease. Masaki had won a baseball scholarship to the school. He also managed to fall asleep five times during his first 6 months and would be hours late coming back. The police even drove him back once to check on his parents. His punishment made all the kids cranky from not seeing each other that Masaki was let out earlier to keep both set of parents from losing their sanity.

But maybe the start of the story was at that point of time. Perhaps if Ms. Ninomiya looked back; everything had started with a school project for art and humanity. From the complaint Kazu kept making, their freshly minted teacher didn't use a whole lot of originality when he paired the students alphabetically. This is how Jun Matsumoto and Kazunari Ninomiya ended up partners.


	2. When Nino met Jun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't add a disclaimer at the beginning of the first chapter but even if parts of what I am using in this story are based on real events, what I am writing is fiction. I think of it as a parallel universe so most of it will sound out-of-character.

“Alright class, settle down. I will now read the boy’s pair for the project: Shunsuke Kazama will be with Ryuhei Maruyama.” The teacher declared over the girls’ chatter. He looked over to a kid with glasses and pointed to another kid with the obnoxious orange backpack. 

“Jun Matsumoto will be paired with Yūichi Nakamaru. Kazunari Ninomiya will be with…” 

Nino glanced around trying to see who hasn’t been pointed out yet when a student in front raised their hand frenetically, interrupting the teacher just when he was about to name Nino’s partner. The teacher lowered the list to stare at the kid. 

“Sir, Nakamaru-kun is in Class B. His name was on both list. The director told him to go with that class.” The student said in a fairly high voice. 

“Thank you Ueda-kun. Then Jun Matsumoto will be paired off with Kazunari Ninomiya.” The teacher went on to pair off the rest of the classroom. 

Nino sighed a bit disappointed. Jun Matsumoto, contrary to Nino, was from the area and most of their fellow students had gone to elementary school with him. He was already famous with the girls and popular with both the teachers and older students.

Nino was starting to dread this project barely a school day in.

He had heard a lot of stories from Aiba, spent the few weeks before the start of the school to ask as many questions about the school, the teachers, the baseball program and the students as he could. He had spent a very lonely year without Aiba being in the same school as he was. Even though they had never been in the same school year, the fact that he had someone to talk to or play during the breaks had helped him. He was afraid to start being bullying again. He hated to admit it but it was one of the reason he wanted to come here, away from a classroom full of people who used to torture him for nothing. 

"Call me Matsujun!" Jun said with a wide smile that looked like it always won people. He had buckteeth that wasn’t fitting on his face yet and strong eyebrows that almost looked painted on. But it gave him a unique look that probably a lot of people found charming. 

"Why?" Nino asked distrustful of the overly energetic attitude. He was always doubting if people's reaction were genuine or not. He had been burn a few times too many with kids pretending to be friends before playing mean tricks on him. The first thing he thought when he met Masaki was that he was either faking it or he really was an idiot. It took him a few weeks to warn up to him, now he knew Masaki was capable of faking anything but he was still and always will be an idiot.

"That's my nickname. A senpai give it to me a while back when I was in a theater camp. What can I call you? Kazu-kun?" Jun leaned closer, a bit too eager in Nino’s taste and a little too cocky. 

"Nino. Just Nino." Nino replied, it was the name his favorite teacher had given him that spread like wildfire. Even Masaki had started called him that half of the time now. 

"Okay. This is going to be such a great project, I can feel it. When can you stay after class? You have an after class club, right?" Jun opened his purple binder and placed the outline carefully in plastic pocket. 

"Baseball on Monday, Wednesday and Friday." Nino replied automatically, looking over the outline of the project. It was worth a large chunk of their grades.

"I have something in Tuesday. So Thursday! We should be here for at least two hours." Jun had already taken his agenda out to write it down.

"Are you insane? Do you want to do the entire project that early in the school year?" Nino asked confused, he was pretty sure that they couldn’t finish the entire thing in one setting.

“No, I meant, we should meet for two hours every Thursday.” Jun said, looking a bit put off by Nino’s reaction. 

“I don’t think that’s going to happen. I live 45 minutes from hour with the express train, I can’t hang around the school just because. We can do it over some nights or some weekends but not every week.” Nino argued, wondering just who was this spoiled kid. 

“I want to get a good grade. I am not presenting something half-assed.” Jun countered with his eyes narrowing in annoyance. 

“I promise that I will do a proper job out of it.” Nino said, grateful that the bell rang at that moment. He needed to take a break from this intense kid or he wouldn’t last the school year.


	3. When Jun Met Sho

Jun took his sweet time, lingering around Nino as the other one was trying to fill his schoolbag with the books he was going to need. Nino mostly ignored him, knowing it was driving the other one crazy to not be asked the question directly. Jun had been in that mood the entire day and whatever was bothering him was not going away. 

“Can you stay later tonight?” Jun asked just as Nino managed to zip his bag. His fingers grasping the edge of Nino’s locker’s door, making the door sway a little from side to side. 

“No, I can’t. I have to help out my mother tonight. What about next week?” Nino repeated, sure that he had already mentioned, or more precisely complained, that he had to help his mother cut cases of vegetables for her next catering event. 

“Sure, next week works.” Jun said, stroking the locker as if it could give him comfort. 

“What’s wrong, J?” Nino asked hating the dejected look on his face. He never thought he would think of the younger student as a friend but after a few months Jun was slowly making the cut. He also had very little time before he had to run to the train station. Aiba was probably waiting next to the vending machine. 

“I’m not doing so well with the economics class. I think I am going to fail the exam again.” Jun admitted, leaning against the next lockers with a heavy sigh. 

“Do you want to try my method?” Nino asked after a moment. He quickly glanced at the clock at the end of the wall and knew he still had a few minutes before he had to go. 

“I’m not sure playing games while Aiba-chan reads the book would help.” Jun countered, probably remembering the lunch break they had last week before the biology exam. The three of them sat outside in the courtyard where Jun watched Aiba reading out loud through one of the chapter while Nino had his nose in his Gameboy. Jun was only glad that he had studied extensively the night before and was confident. 

“Of course not, that guy has problems reading kanjis. I have a secret method but you have to come over to my place.” Nino said as he put on his heavy bag over his shoulders with a grunt. 

“To Chiba?” Jun raised a skeptic eyebrow, he often wondered just how Nino endured the long trek to and from school. He wasn’t sure he could do it every day. 

“Yes, to Chiba. It’s barely in Chiba anyway. So it won’t hurt your Tokyo cred.” Nino teased, poking Jun in the stomach. 

“Barely in Chiba? Aren’t you supposed to be all about Chiba pride like Aiba-kun?” He had heard enough rant about how great Chiba was from the older student. 

“Technically I was born Katsushika.” Nino shrugged. Not he really remembered it, he was a baby when his mother divorced and moved back to the family house. But it still counted in his eyes. He started walking towards the exit. 

“And you live in Hanamigawa, right?” Jun sounded resigned, walking alongside Nino. 

“It’s the Sobu line, Makuhari-Hongō station. Come if you can. It will be good.” Nino said before running off without any formality. 

*-*

Jun argued with himself for two days before telling Nino on the Friday that if he still could come over the next day to study. After all, Nino had some of the best scores in their grade so Jun was curious on just how he managed it. He had carefully written down the directions and set up as early as he could for a solid hour of train. He arrived at the address and after checking it against his notes three times and reading twice the “NINOMIYA” tag on the mailbox, he finally knocked on the door three clear but not too loud times. 

The door opened with a bang, a teenage girl was starring him down wearing a bright neon pink sleeveless midriff turtleneck and the shortest pair of shorts he’s ever seen on a person. 

“What do you want?” She asked sounding a bit confused as if she had been expecting someone else.

“I’m here to see Ninomiya-kun. We’re from the same class.” Jun managed to say unsure on how to react to the pissed look on the girl’s face. 

“Follow me.” The teen said, pushing a pair of guest slipper towards him with her foot, leaving Jun to hurriedly close the door behind him and take off his shoes. 

She quickly led him through the house before she push opened one of the door. 

“Kazu, you have guest!” She said leaning against the doorway, from over her shoulder he could see Nino and Aiba who were sitting on the bed glancing up in unison. 

“Why can’t you dress like a normal person?” Nino whined at he gave a nasty look to the girl. Aiba was trying to sneak little furtive looks at the teen’s bare legs without Nino noticing. 

“I’m hot. Did you finally manage to make a friend beside that one?” She asked lazily pointing at Aiba. 

“Nee-chan! Get out!” Nino said jumping off the bed to physically push his sister away. He gestured to Jun to come inside the room and gave his sister another dirty look before closing the door behind him. 

Aiba gave Jun a bright smile as he settled down on the empty chair close to the bed. 

“So what’s this plan to help me study?” Jun asked as he unzipped his book bag. He felt a little bit uncomfortable that Aiba was there. Not that he didn’t like the guy, he was a bit goofy but he was nice. Jun worried that there wouldn’t be any studying. He didn’t want to go over to his father with a bad grade again. 

“First, food! I bet Jun didn’t eat much on the train. Aiba-shi, the usual would be good.” Nino ordered slapping Aiba on the shoulder as he walked next to the bed. 

“Eh? Why do I have to get the food?” Aiba looked up at Nino, surprise showing on his face. 

“Because your parents own a restaurant. It’s for the greater good Maa-kun!” Nino spoke louder to cover when Aiba started to protest. 

“I’ll be back later.” Aiba said sullenly as he closed the manga that had been open in his lap. He left the door wide open not even saying another word to either Jun or Nino. 

“And don’t you dare ogle my sister! Don’t think I didn’t see you earlier!” Nino shouted in warning. 

Nino glanced around his room, filled with books and dirty clothes on the floor, deep in thought. Jun was not going to say a thing but he wasn’t sure he would be able to work in this type of environment. 

“Alright, let’s go to the dining room. We’ll never get to study if we stay here.” Nino said after a moment. 

Jun breathed in relief when he heard that and picked his book bag with both hands as he trailed behind Nino. 

They had barely cracked open their books when the door opened again. 

“Kazue! What are you wearing? Go change right now!” A woman yelled loudly. 

Jun watched as Nino started to snicker at the scolding his sister was obviously getting. A woman, obviously Nino’s mother based of their shared features, walking in with a teenager dressed in uniform in tow. It was incredibly hot outside but the teen was still wearing long gray slacks, a white shirt and tie with a black vest and a black blazer on top.

“Please apologize again to your father, Sho-chan. I don’t know what goes into her head sometimes.” Nino’s mother had not taken notice of Jun yet, but the teen was throwing little looks in his direction and taking notes of Nino’s movements while facing Nino’s mother. 

“That’s alright. I think my father was just shocked at the amount of neon pink she was wearing.” Sho replied with a kind smile, when he twisted his head a little, Jun was able to see a small silver earring in his left ear. He looked so cool, like the senpais at Jun’s theater camp. 

“Oh, Kazu you didn’t say that your friend had arrived.” Nino’s mother said realizing that there was someone else in her dining room.

“Well, considering that you just arrived, I didn’t really have much time. Mom, this is Jun Matsumoto. J, this is my mother and that guy in the background is Sho. He’s going to help us study this afternoon.” Nino presented in his casual way but his mother didn’t seem to mind. 

“So, that’s why you asked me to come here? To help you study?” Sho replied, sounding skeptical and a bit disappointed. 

“Well, Jun-kun, I’m very happy to meet you.” Kazuko greeted warmly, watching Jun fumble to stand up and bow in greeting. 

“I’m afraid that it’s just going to be you boys today. I need to go back to the city with your father, Sho. He’s waiting for us in the car. Kazue, we’re leaving now! You better be dressed normally!” Ninomiya’s mom yelled in the direction of the bedrooms to her daughter.

“Is Kazue babysitting tonight?” Sho asked as he shed his blazer off his shoulders. 

“Yes, so if you want to stay here, you are welcome to take her room. Kazu, do you want me to leave you money for tonight? I’m so sorry but I didn’t have time to cook anything yesterday.” Ninomiya’s mother sounded a bit ashamed of that fact but Jun had a feeling that Nino hadn’t told that Jun was coming over. 

“That’s okay, Mom, don’t worry. I already sent Aiba-shi to get some food. We’re just going to study for our next exams.” Nino replied with a smile. 

“Well in that case, I will be off. Work well. It was nice to meet you” She nodded towards Jun with a kind smile.

“Thank you auntie.” Sho said, still standing up next to a chair.

“Bye mom! Bye Nee-chan! Don’t traumatize Sho’s cute little brother and sister.” Nino yelled from his seat when they heard footstep in the hallway. 

“It’ll be fine.” Sho said with a shrug, he walked over the hallway and waited until the door had close before opening his mouth again. “She’s not wearing that pink monstrosity anymore. Did you tell her we were coming?” 

“Nope.” Nino replied with a smirk. 

“Oh, she is going to kill you tomorrow.” Sho with a smile as he walked back to stand next to the table. 

“J, this is Sho Sakurai, Keio boy by day and Keio boy by night. He got the best grade in math and an economics award for like the 8th time in a row. Sho, this is Jun Matsumoto, the dorky guy I’ve been paired with this semester. Can you teach him math so that he doesn’t drop out and I have to find someone else to do this stupid project with? I don’t have time to train someone else to be my minion.” Nino declared grandly, exaggerating as usual. 

Jun smiled as Sho let out an exasperated sigh. Their eyes met and Jun knew in his bones that they would get along. 

*-*

“How do you know each other?” Jun asked when he felt a bit more daring. They had barely gone through the first chapter when Aiba came back with food so Nino had declared it was a well-deserved break and pushed all their books aside.

Jun was watching as Nino was almost laying on top of Sho to grab a dumpling. Sho didn’t move aside, he just let Nino sprawl over him like furniture. He seemed really used to it and it was making Jun a bit confused and just a little bit jealous. 

“Who? I’ve known Aiba-chan since we were like 7 or 8 when I joined the little league. I thought I told you that before when I introduced you.” Nino looked at Jun briefly before giving his gyoza an intense look of concentration as he dipped it in ponzu sauce. Aiba looked up too looking a little confused but quickly went back to eat his share of mabo tofu.

“No, I mean how do you know Sho-san? We don’t go to the same school.” Jun clarified, he wasn’t sure he met two people so unlike. Sho was dignified in the way he was holding himself and how well he spoke. He looked like he came from a Shoujo manga with his good looks and rich boy attitude. Nino who was brash and mischief incarnate, didn’t look like the kind to tolerate people like Sho. He certainly didn’t with the people at the school. 

“Oh. Sho’s my cousin. Our mothers are sisters.” Nino said frowning a bit, he then turned his head to give searching look towards Jun.

“You’re like a year and half apart right? That’s so nice to have a cousin close in age!” Aiba said a sigh. 

Nino reached over to poke him hard in the shoulder, considering how much time they spent together there was no reason for Aiba to wish for a cousin when Nino was right there. By extension, from the way they greeted each out, Aiba and Sho seemed to be almost as close as Nino and Sho. 

“Do you have any siblings, Jun-kun?” Sho asked turning to Jun with a fond smile.

“I do! I have an older sister. She’s two years older.” Jun said happy to be on the receiving end of Sho’s attention. 

They somehow managed to study after most of the containers were empty. And if Jun would look back at this moment, years later, he couldn’t tell if he aced that exam. But he knew for sure that meeting Sho changed his life.


	4. Carnival Nights part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, this is the first flashforward to their teenage years. I will go back to write more about the first meetings (When Nino Met Satoshi/When Jun Met Masaki etc.) but here is the start of what I consider somewhat the main event of this story, when the 5 guys created a band for a one night event at a talent show and called it Arashi. This is the first part of many relating to the talent show.

Sometimes during their late teenage years

"You want to do the talent show? But we usually go to laugh at their expenses!" Sho looked at his cousin in disbelief, Nino was usually the last to want to go at the festival but the first one to mock it. Unless Jun was annoyed for any reason, then the snark marathon would start.

"The son of Ms. Chinen is performing this year with his school friends." Nino began starring at Sho intently as if trying to convey some kind of meaningful message through telepathy.

"Say no more. We will do it and win!" Aiba raising up to his feet with a serious look on his face. He gave Nino's shoulder a few taps in solidarity. Sho felt like Aiba was the one who got the message instead.

"I have no idea what's going. Isn't Chinen the kid that was annoying Oh-chan last summer whenever we went out in Chiba City?" Jun poked his step-brother who just shrugged, eyes never leaving Nino.

"I'm sorry, I don't either." Sho finally admitted, Nino's face fell as if in pain.

"You don't?" Nino asked quietly. Sho dropped his hands to his side feeling completely helpless, he had no idea what was going and why Nino was taking it so personally. 

"It's the legend of the Two Ninomiya sisters!" Aiba blurted out behind Nino.

"Masaki!" Nino shouted in warning, he was trying to mask his feeling but they could all see how deeply it bothered him.

"If you are not telling it, I am." Masaki said hotly giving a firm look at his best friend.

Nino muttered under his breathe something none of them could figure out before flopping on the couch, facing away from them. But clearly he was not as mad as he made it out to be as they all know he would have stormed off by now if he truly was. Never mind he was at Jun and Oh-chan’s place, he would have left and taken the train back home by himself. He did it before when he got into an argument at Sho’s house.

"It's one of the stories that the aunties keep telling over and over in our neighbourhood. It's like one of the most famous one." Aiba began sounding incredibly serious for once. 

"And how do you know it?" Sho asked hating that there was this secret about his family that he wasn't aware of but Aiba did. Not that he didn't consider Aiba a de facto member of the Ninomiya family but it reminded Sho that there was a bit of a gap between him and Kazu. That despite Sho being technically the oldest male child of the family, Nino was the one that had been named heir of the Ninomiya family.

"Well, once Ms. Chinen invited my mom over thinking that she was a new wife when actually my parents had been super busy with their restaurants and that's why she wasn't doing the housewife stuff of going over to tea at all the other housewives’ houses. My parents had been living in Chiba for a while but they weren’t really known because they never went out. But once, Nino's mom brought over super good food when my little brother was born because Nino’s mom was a cook so she was in the good books with my mom." Aiba stared his story almost as if he was doing rakugo while the other three looked at him trying hard to follow.

"Masaki, focus." Nino said, his head still turned away from them.

"Well, I am getting there. It’s to give the context. My parents were pretty much Yankee too. So my mom had plenty of people say bad things about her or my dad just because they dressed rough when they were younger. So she really liked Ms. Ninomiya already when she got invited to go over to Ms. Chinen’s house and that's where she heard the story. Pretty sums up as Sho's mom being the good sister because she studied, got married and then got a baby. But Nino's mom is the bad sister who had kids out of wedlock with a married man. So you should tell your daughters to behave or they will be the laugh stock of the town." Aiba said bitterly, he had tears in his eyes. Ms. Ninomiya was like an aunt to him and one of his mother closest friends. Even after all these years the two women would chat on the phone every Sunday night to catch up with their week and the crazy antics that their sons got into. 

"None of it is even fucking true! My parents were still married when they had Kazue and me. I think the divorce was official when I was 6 months old! And my father was not married to anyone else. He got remarried when I was 10. Remember? Masaki, you thought he was a perverted who was following Kazue home and you ran to the police." Nino complained still feeling the sting of being called names in the playground from kids of those gossipy parents who heard it wrong and didn’t care to spread lies around. 

"Well, how could anyone know?" Aiba muttered defensive, still recalling that day.

"Ah, I hate feeling like this!" Nino pressed his hands against his eyes and breathed deeply.

"I remember my mother telling me that you saw your dad but it shouldn't be an issue." Sho said quietly, he had always wanted to ask what happened but everyone had been tight lipped when he visited. He gave up at one point and forgot to bring it up. Now he wished he said something sooner.

"I still remember Ms. Aiba yelling at him in the living room. She came because one of the policeman called her about Masaki. He was just finishing telling how he was getting married again and he wanted Kazue and me to go. Ms. Aiba barged in, took one look at the room and saw that my mom was falling apart and my grandpa didn't want to say anything for our sakes and she just let loose. He didn't really stay long after that." Nino said bitterly. 

"Did you ever see him again?" Ohno asked when Nino had lapsed into silence.

"He sent Kazue a birthday card the following month. His interest in us didn't quite make it to Christmas." Nino couldn't quite forget waiting for any kind of news that year. He even carried that hope until his birthday even if he had always kept that fact for himself. But he didn't need to say it; Kazue had given him extra hugs for his birthday that year and his mom had allowed Aiba to stay over that night despite it being a school night and his grandfather had gaven him extra pocket money, nothing wasn't said but everything was deeply implied.

"Not that I care about him at all. It doesn't matter at all. But I don't want this stupid kid to win this year with a song on how great his mom is when she's not. I'm not saying that she is the devil incarnate but I just want my mom to be in a crowd and feel proud once." Nino said passionately, wiping the angry hot tears from his cheek and dunking his eyes away from everybody else. 

"Okay. So we do that one?" Ohno said simply standing up and walking in the middle of the living room.

"Wait, what?" Jun asked sounding confused at his step-brother's action.

"We're doing the talent show. Was there any doubt about it?" Ohno asked calmly looking over at Sho, Aiba before settling on Jun.

"Of course not. But I don't get what you mean by "that one". Which?" Jun asked, like it was only natural to suddenly want to do a talent show to make sure a 13 year old lost a contest.

"Oh, you guys! Group hug!" Aiba said suddenly walking towards Nino, not even pausing to grab Ohno and Jun to pull them on the couch.

"Masaki! Get off! No!" Nino shouted when Aiba draped himself all over Nino's back while Ohno fell in his lap with Jun pressed against Ohno's back.

"Puppy pile!" Aiba shouted instead, limbs grabbing as much of the others as he could. Nino stopped trying to fight it and slumped forward, nestling his head on Ohno shoulder. One of Jun's hand covered Nino's nape. Sho walked slowly and sank to his knee as close to Nino as he could. He slid his arms around Nino's waist slowly, smiling to himself when Nino shivered at the tickling touch.

No one spoke for several minutes, enjoying the closeness that men did not allow each other often as adults. Sho closed his eyes, his forehead touching Nino's side. Someone's hand was petting his hair and if not for the awkward position, Sho was sure that he could fall asleep right here and there.

The spell was broken by a flash.

Five heads turned to stare at Megumi Matsumoto who continued to take a few more pictures with her camera until she was satisfied.

"Megumi!" Jun said not quite sure what should be his next action. Megumi just smirked and slipped her neon pink camera in her pocket.

"I couldn't resist! I just walked in from school and you guys looked so cute on the couch." Megumi crossed her arms against her chest.

Jun pulled away, bringing Satoshi along with him.

"Left!" Jun suddenly shouted as the both of them sprung running. Megumi had the advantage of being closest to the door but didn't make it that far, too surprised by how determined the two were.

Satoshi managed to grab her shirt by stretching as far as he could.

"Give us the camera!" He begged.

"I was going to give you copies!" Megumi pouted as Satoshi held his hand out.

"Give or I'll take it." Satoshi threatened, Megumi's eyes widened.

"You wouldn't dare!" Megumi reminded, they didn't have the close relationship, the gap between too wide. They never spent time together willingly, each of them were close to Jun but their personality never connected. 

Jun had already plunged his hand in his sister's jean pocket and held up the camera proudly.

"I would." He declared with a wide grin while his older sister threw him daggers. Jun passed the camera to Satoshi who quickly opened it to display the last pictures. Satoshi froze while flipping back, Jun couldn't quite read the emotion. He wasn't sure he'd even seen it in the past five years as sibling.

"Megumi, can you make us all copies of that one?" Satoshi said after Jun poked him.

"Why should I?" Megumi asked, but a few months away from her 20th birthday it was a bit harder to fall back on playing the sullen teenager.

"Please?" Satoshi flipped the display screen so Megumi could see it.

Her stubborn faded fast and she took back her camera.

"You owe me little brother." Megumi said to Jun pushing him aside to go to her room.

“Well, if we need a photographer for the talent show I guess my sister can do it.” Jun said as he walked back to sit on the couch. 

A few weeks later, just before they were due to be on stage at the town’s talent show, Satoshi gave them all envelops with a picture of the five of them in a huge pile of limbs all pressed against each other. And each copy, not at that time but years later when they were more mature, became a frame on a wall they pointed at proudly whenever a guest would inquire or carefully placed in an album or even resize to fit into an iPhone to be able to look at it whenever they needed it. 

After all, older sisters were useful at times.


	5. The Fight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning, two flashforward scenes. I know everyone is terribly OOC but that's why I only write AUs. Also, this is the story that doesn't want to end, I am nearly at 20K already and several keys scenes aren't written yet.

During the teenage years

There was no answer when he knocked. He was family but he was still raised to respect traditions. He tried the handle unsurprised to find it unlock, Nino often unlocked when he knew that Sho was coming and would go back to his room to play games. No matter how many times his mother or sister complained to not leave the door unlocked. He closed it behind him and put on his red slipper, noticing that Aiba's green slippers were shoved in the umbrella stand, with only part of the emerald tip showing up.

"Pardon my intrusion~." Sho sing sang towards the kitchen. He could hear some noise coming from there.

"Ah, Sho-chan! Kitchen!" Kazue shouted, displaying her lack of manners. When Sho entered the kitchen, Nino was quick to plunge his head back in a school book and didn't even bother greeting Sho.

"Is the great Aimiya Silence still in effect?" Sho asked Kazue who sat at the kitchen table with their French bulldog panting on her lap. There was an almost empty beer glass next to her and some remnant of chip bowl. 

"Yes it is. I went to get takeout yesterday and Masaki is just as miserable." Kazue said scratching the top of the dog's head.

Sho gave a look to Nino who went on pretending he was busy reading. His mother had confiscated his DS to his greatest disappointment.

"You know, at one point, one of you will need to man up." Sho said, he hated that this fight didn't seem to end. Masaki had emailed him twice talking about how Sho had been such a nice friend but he understood that he was family to Nino and it was okay to take his side.

Sho had been at a lost on what to answer. The fact that no one knew exactly what the fight was exactly didn't help. Sho suspected that Oh-chan had a better idea since Sho knew that Nino and Oh-chan pretty much texted each other 10 times a day.

Jun was not saying much, Aiba was not really talking to him either but he did let him know that he was not holding a grudge against him either. From the little Jun was telling him, Aiba was hanging out at lunch with a guy in their class named Kazama and two older students who were transfer students from Osaka.

"Are you really going to let it be? Masaki is your best friend." Sho asked trying to be gentle but it came out maybe too patronizing.

"He's not anymore. Congratulations you can apply for the position now." Nino said sarcastically standing up and taking his book to his room.

"What are you doing?! You know what mom said!" Kazue reminded him, trying to calm the dog who got spooked by the noise.

"Tell her that I'm busy." Nino replied sullenly before they heard his door slam shut.

"Do you have any idea what happened? No one seems to know." Sho asked his cousin who just shrugged. She looked a little bit drunk and it was barely the afternoon. 

"What time is auntie supposed to be back?" Sho asked standing up as well, with a determined look on his face.

"Not before 7pm. She was catering a bachelorette party this afternoon. Does she even knew you’re here?" Kazue asked putting the dog on the ground to get herself another beer. 

"Okay. I should be back before then." Sho mentally calculated the walking distance and just how late he could be before he had to be back at the Ninomiya’s house and try to sober up his cousin a bit. 

"Where are you going exactly?" Kazue asked, not sounding as concerned as Sho would have been if their roles were inversed. 

"To try to get Aiba-chan to spit it out." Sho said watching Kazue just nod and plunge herself back to a fashion magazine that was on the table. 

It turned out however that Sho only spent the following three hours going in circle around town. Aiba was nowhere in sight and no one in his family really could tell him much either. His mother had noticed that he wasn’t around Nino as much and that he was really moody for some reason. But his grades had not slipped and his room was in better that it had ever been. Disappointed Sho went back to Nino’s house where he had a quiet dinner where no one really spoke much. And with a heavy heart he took the train back home, wondering if he was witnessing the end of something he had been so terribly envious of. 

*-*

A few weeks later…

Sho had just slipped into his lecture hall when his cell phone rang, he ignored the dirty looks some were throwing him. The teacher nor his assistant had arrived yet so there was no need to act offended because his cellphone rang. 

"Hello?" Shoe said putting a hand over his mouth to mute the conversation.

"Guess what?" Jun said happily in the phone. Sho quickly glanced at his watch that was telling him that it was recess time for Jun. 

"The Aimiya crisis is over. Nino told me just now that they were friends again." Jun went on, not leaving Sho a chance to speak.

"Oh, thank god!" Sho breathed out in relief, leaning against the back of the chair.

"Yeah, well Aiba is still going to hang out with other people but it is finally over!" Jun said excited. 

It had gone on for what seemed forever, Sho thought, but things now could get back to normal.

*-*

Several years into the future…

"Hey, Nino?" Aiba asked just when silence had stretched long enough to lull them to the brink of sleep.

"What is it?" Nino asked, not sounding as annoyed as Sho or Jun were.

"Masaki! It'd better be good because we have to awake up in less than three hours." Jun complained from under his blanket.

"Yeah, sorry I just won't be able to sleep if I don't ask." Aiba said, sounding way too awake for Sho's liking.

"What is it?" Nino asked, twisting around to lay on his stomach.

"Remember that fight we had in High School?" Aiba asked, still laying on his back starring at the ceiling.

Both Sho and Jun turned their heads towards Aiba holding their breath, neither had ever heard the full story.

"What was it about? I don't remember anymore." Masaki said plaintively.

"What?!"

"No way!"

Sho and Jun sat in their beds and glared at Aiba who just shrugged sheepishly.

Sho turned his head to see Nino's reaction, fearing that maybe Masaki had reopened a wound.

But Nino just stared at Aiba for a few seconds before starting to laugh hysterically.

Aiba started to giggle too until Nino's laughter died down.

"Go to sleep, Aibaka." Nino said, flipping back and pulling the covers to his nose.

"Wait does that mean you don't remember either? Nino~!" Aiba extended his hand to poke Nino in the shoulder. Nino grabbed Aiba's hand instead and clasped their fingers together. Aiba giggled softly as if he had suddenly turned into a Shoujo character.

"Okay, I give up." Jun declared before flopping back to his bed and threw his pillow over his head.

Sho's gaze was locked on the two holding friends like when they were little kids. He twisted around to sleep facing Ohno, who had went on sleeping despite all the noise.

Maybe some things were better left unsaid.


	6. Stubborn is as Stubborn Does

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Totally was bitten by (2) other AU but I need to get this one done.

Sometimes during adulthood

"Oh, Matsumoto-san! Someone at the front is asking for you."

"Who was it?" Jun didn't even bother looking at the assistant, he was trying to get the stage to be lit just right and something was still off.

"Young guy with sunglass and baseball hat?”

“Who does he work for?” Jun asked, racking his brain, he didn’t have any appointment this morning, he specifically booked his entire morning to himself so he could focus on solving the stage issues that had been bugging him for the past week. 

“He said he was one of your friends. He’s kind of… nerdy looking.” The assistant said as diplomatically as he could. 

“Nino?” Jun asked to himself; Nino’s work wasn’t exactly far but is was a detour to come all the way to this theater. And Nino wouldn’t have come all this way to swindle Jun into paying his lunch if he had forgotten his wallet when Sho was closer and a more gullible victim. 

Jun gave his iPad to his assistant and took a minute to explain what Jun wanted him to do when testing the intensity of the light. Something felt odd in the air and it grew with every step to the front lobby.

Jun’s guess was right and Nino looked horrible pacing back and forth in front of the information desk. He looked like he hadn’t shaved when he should have this morning and threw a hoodie and baseball cap over clothes that he probably been in for at least 24 hours. 

Jun’s snarky comment died somewhere in his throat when he meet Nino’s red rimmed eyes. Something had happened; Jun felt it heavy in his stomach. 

“I’m not going to the hospital by myself.” Nino declared defiantly, his posture defensive as if he was expecting Jun to contradict him. 

“What?” Jun asked feeling entirely lost; someone was at the hospital and he didn’t know. He had left his cellphone in his office when he walked in the building at 7am, what could have possible happened since. Everyone he knew were fine when he went to bed yesterday; was someone hiding something from him? He was the youngest and his family had the bad habit of smoothing out things because they had deemed him too sensitive when he was a teenager. 

“I told him to go but the bastard said was too busy to go. It’s his fucking fault if he’s in the hospital so I’m not hurrying to his bedside.” Nino went on starting to pace again. It offered Jun a little bit more information but not enough to say who it was that was hurt.

“Who? Satoshi?” Jun asked, there was a very short list of people that Nino would be worried over their behalf and wasn’t usually Oh-chan was on the top of that list? But he would have heard it if something had happened to his step-brother. 

Nino stopped his pacing and glared at Jun, looking completely disgusted.

“You have no idea what happened?” 

“I left my phone upstairs, I’ve been working all morning.” Jun replied feeling a little defensive himself. He crossed his arms in front of him and waited for Nino to speak. 

“Sorry to bother you then.” Nino said sarcastically before walking to the doors and pushing it open with all his strength. Jun flinched when the door collided with the wall but it seemed to have snapped him to action, he half ran after Nino catching up a few steps outside the theater. 

“Wait! I’ll go with you. Just, who? Your grandfather? Sho? Masaki?” Jun listed, hating not knowing who was lying in a hospital bed that he might care about. Nino flinched visibly when Jun said Aiba’s name.

“Is it pneumothorax? Again?” Jun asked, now he had an inkling of how Nino was feeling. He remembered high school when Aiba was pushing himself with his senior year talent show and kept complaining of chest pains. Nino had been the one to find him on the ground, when Masaki hadn’t shown up for them to take their scheduled train, trying to gasp air with lips completely blue. 

“He had an attack last week when he visited a farm. We told him to get a temporary exemption for this class but the bastard was too stubborn.” Nino said sounding incredibly small, if his mood hadn’t been so prickly Jun would have hugged him tight. 

“Give me two minutes to go grab my car keys.” Jun said, waiting for Nino to nod once before dashing to this office. With trembling fingers he pulled his phone of the charging stations and saw over a dozen of missed text messages from most of his family and friends. Even Mina had sent a mass text to several of them probably at Satoshi’s request. He quickly texted Sho that he was heading to the hospital careful not to trip while he came down the stairs. 

He paused between the last flights of stairs to type “How bad?” before he went on. He paused for a second in the lobby to ask the receptionist, Mizuko-san, to let his team know that he had a family emergency; someone was in the hospital and he needed to go check on them. He didn’t wait for her answer, he heard some vague expressions of sympathy from her but he wasn’t paying any attention to it. 

He could see from the information desk that Nino was waiting for him right where he left him. It looked like he hadn’t moved an inch despite the harsh sun. Jun walked out and pressed a hand to Nino’s shoulder to steer him towards the car. Just before stepping inside, Jun heard his phone beep letting him know that a new text message was received. His fingers itched to take it but at the same time, he wasn’t sure if he should. He sat in the car and shoved the keys into the ignition. 

“You should read it.” Nino said quietly, already buckled up in the passenger seat. 

Jun didn’t need to be told twice, he pulled his cellphone out to see a message from Sho. 

“Masaki is awake and breathing on his own. Might not need surgery.” Jun read the message out loud after reading it quickly in his head first. 

“That’s good.” Jun said, texting a thumbs up to Sho before putting the phone in its stand. Sho had sent him the name of the hospital earlier and his phone had recognize it as an address, setting the GPS in his phone took merely one click. Jun didn’t really need it, he knew the area well but he let his phone navigation on anyway. 

Nino was quiet for a few minutes and didn’t speak until they were on the highway.

“I guess.”

“Look, can you tell me what happened? I was gone for not even a week and when I saw him just before I left, Aiba was in perfect health.” Jun had a feeling that maybe it was better to get some of Nino’s anger out before arriving to the hospital. 

“Aiba had a severe hay allergy reaction when he visited a farm for his class. They had to drive him in the middle of nowhere to a clinic and pump him with antihistamines just so he could breathe again. His mom asked Sho to go out to get him because no one else could. I went with Aiba to his regular doctor the next day for a checkup because he was so weak he had trouble standing. His doctor kept telling him that he had to take the rest of the week off. He gave him a note and everything.” 

“Let me guess, Masaki decided to go anyway?” Jun didn’t need Nino to confirm. Aiba was persistent, he was the type to still be practicing while everyone else had given up. 

“He went to a different farm yesterday because he thought it would make it better. He collapsed at the end of the day when his teacher drop him off at the train station. His medication probably ran off by then but his clothes were probably covered with allergens.” Nino said, he had researched everything about allergies and lung diseases after Aiba’s first collapse, so much he sometimes knew more than Aiba himself. And Aiba was majoring in science/biology. 

Jun winced, he didn’t want to think of Aiba fainting on the train tracks or in the middle of the street. 

“He’s not going to get any sympathy from me.” Nino said suddenly. 

“He shouldn’t.” 

Jun could feel Nino’s surprised gaze, he probably had a long speech from Sho about being understanding but Jun knew that Aiba was stupid to risk his health that way. He was usually fine in the spring when his hay allergy flared up but it had been a long process to get it manageable, and it had been for a few years. Jun always kept an eye out on remedy to help with it, whenever he visited a new naturopath he would ask extensive question on the subject.

“Look, we both know how stupid Masaki is. He acts, thinks a little in the middle of it then just go on with it. He’s reckless sometimes, especially when he is trying to prove himself. So I’m pretty mad that he is not taking care of himself. So, I’m going to tell him that I am very glad that he’s not dead. But I am going in line after his mother, your mother and you to tell him how foolish it was for him to go out when he was supposed to be resting.” 

“My mom wrote him a very angry email. But she also has some umeboshi she kept for him. I stayed up all night waiting for news. His parents didn’t get to the hospital till late. I was wrapping up one of my programming job when my mom called. Sho went to the hospital this morning and pretty much called everybody he knew.” 

“Yeah, even Mina-chan sent out a text blast. Isn’t weird how we became this close knit clan?” Jun said looking briefly at the GPS to see if his mental calculation was the same; less than 20 minutes before they would arrive. 

“What do you mean?” Nino looked at Jun curiously as if that thought had never occurred to him before. It was a testimony on how tired and stressed he was when Nino was always the first one to catch on seeing patterns and links. 

“Well, my step-sister who never lived under the roof of the Ohno-Matsumoto family and probably only meet Aiba half of dozen of time, is fully aware of all our comings and goings. I receive emails from your sister sometimes about whatever fashion trends she thinks I should know about and I get care package from Aiba’s parents whenever I come back to Japan after a tour. Like the next morning when I despair at my empty fridge, there is a knock on my door and suddenly I have food for a solid week. It’s almost like all of our families resigned themselves at having extra sons or brothers because we’re friends.” Jun said, trying to recall every little thing they were doing for each other. 

“And why are you complaining?” Nino asked pointedly. 

“I’m not.” Jun defended himself, Nino was obviously not in the right mood for this conversation. 

The rest of the trip was silent. Jun pulled into a parking and winced at the price he was going to have to pay for an hour’s worth of a visit. 

“He’s going to be okay.” Jun said after he pressed the elevator’s button to get to the main lobby. 

“This time.” Nino replied darkly before he stepped into the elevator. 

Jun watched a Nino that fawned over a miserable Aiba, mocking him and fluffing his pillows at the same time. He waved off all the rambled on apologies that Aiba was offering or worrying him and the entire extended family. The Nino that Jun saw in the elevator was carefully hidden and no one else had any idea it was there but Jun. 

Though Jun had a feeling no one would understand so it might just as well be that way.


	7. Chasing Dreams

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter introduce Becky. I know it's incredibly easy to match her with Aiba but since this is a work of fiction and not reality, it doesn't really matter.

Teenage years...

"What is this class?" Nino complained the moment the teacher was out of the door.

"You're telling me! Is it just me or that man is crazy?" The girl with the foreign look said, obviously Half-Japanese but raised around Tokyo judging by her accent and the way she spoke Japanese so quickly. 

A few of the others nodded in agreement. 

"I mean, maybe we should give him a chance but I'm for having a plan b." The girl went on before digging into her purse. There were so many plush toys and key chains that Nino wondered how heavy that bag was.

"He's supposed to be the expert." The girl next to her said.

"But Anne-chan, he sounds like he's going to make us act out Battle Royale during next class!"

Anne just rolled her eyes and gave her purse all of her attention.

The girl didn't seem to mind being ignored by her friend and twisted around to face Nino.

"Hi, I'm Becky." Becky said holding out a hand to shake. Nino took it dazed, maybe he was wrong and she didn’t grew up here. He didn’t know many people his age shaking hands in greeting.

"Becky?" He repeated, just to be on the safe side. 

"Yes, that’s my stage name. I'm thinking of adding like a half note or a sharp symbol when I write it out. It will look just awesome! What’s your name?"

"Call me Nino." He replied flashing a smile, needing a few second to digest her words. She spoke so fast that he knew most people had trouble keeping up judging by the glazed looks around. 

"You are really suave Nino. These three are maybe better looking but you will be the better actor no doubt." Becky said bluntly, the other three students turned around to look at her, mouth gaping in surprise.

"I think we are going to get along after you realize that, I am a good looking guy." Nino said the last part of his sentence in English.

Becky burst out laughing. 

It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship indeed.

***

In their mid to late twenties...

 

"Hey, Becky?"

"What?" Becky was busy trying to follow the recipe but the question had been on Nino’s mind for a while and Aiba was due back with the alcohol any minute.

"Do you ever regret not being an actress?"

"Why are you asking that?" Becky stopped ruffling through the drawers to look up at Nino. 

"I mean, you were pretty good and you could still be one."

"Not really." Becky scoffed.

"You could, your job is part time so you could go on auditions." Nino had been looking over auditions and keeping tabs on jobs related to movies and TV. 

"I meant I was not really good. I watched the DVD from our first theater camp. Masaki really wanted to watch it the other day. I was awful. Really, I had to get drunk to be able to finish it. And I didn’t even have a main role that time." Becky made a crunched up face at the memory. 

"Are you sure it wasn’t to endure Masaki’s hyena laugh?" Nino teased, while some of Aiba’s former girlfriends were offended when he made a joke at Aiba’s expense, Becky just found it funny.

"Yeah, well that becomes white noise after a while." Becky said with a laugh.

"But seriously, I liked it but I know I was not that good. But it’s okay, I love my job. I get to work with animals. I love the people I work with. It’s not what I imagined when I was 14 but it’s good. I mean I had crazy idea to be a singer and a designer too. It really wasn’t realistic. But you... This is actually about you and what you want to do with your life."

"Maybe." Nino glanced at the window to make sure Aiba wasn’t arriving just yet.

"I thought you liked making video games." Becky asked, the question Nino knew he would be getting from everyone. After all, it was the same question he kept asking himself for the past year or so. 

"I do but it feels like I settled because I didn’t get into film school."

"Then, do it,"

"What?" Nino didn’t expect those words to come out of Becky’s mouth so easily. 

"You got money. Put some aside to pay for film school and go. Look, you are single, no major responsibilities, you can go to LA or New York if you want. I can help you with your English until you go." Becky pointed out everything that Nino was convincing himself he couldn’t do. 

"It’s just a pipe dream." Nino echoed the words that had been repeating in his mind. 

"Did Masaki say that?" Becky nose flared.

"No, I haven’t told him yet." Not that Nino was scared of Aiba’s reaction but he wasn’t sure he wanted to handle someone else’s criticism. 

"He would tell you same thing you told him when he decided to go back to school for zoology: stop annoying us with it and go do it." Becky reminded, Aiba had spent ages debating his degree. 

They both jumped a little when they heard the door slam.

"I got Kirin! Hey food is not ready?" Aiba said as he walked in the room with the shopping bags. Becky whacked him hard on his chest.

"Nino has something he wants to tell you." Becky said, not letting Nino off the hook. 

"I want to go to film school." Nino said quietly, watching Aiba put the beer on tiny space he had on the kitchen island. 

"You totally should if you want to." Aiba said after a moment as if it was the only logical solution. “Plus, you’re probably a better candidate now with your videogames experience. Oh, do you need us to help with your admission piece like we did last time?"

Nino threw himself at Aiba’s side before he even realized his limbs had moved from their own accord. 

Not that it mattered judging by the bear hug Aiba was giving back now that his arms were free.

"I needed that." Nino said after he let go.

"Sure. Anytime. That’s what friends are for." Aiba said simply. And maybe it just was.

Because as much as Nino loved Sho, there were things his cousin couldn't understand. Maybe Nino was making a mistake to drop his lucrative career for one of his childhood dream, just like maybe Aiba was crazy to go for such a specialized degree that might not even get any use, but both of them had to try at least.

***

A few months later...

"Are you sure you want us to walk you over the gate?" Sho asked looking around worried, he looked every bit of the mother hen.

"What for? The moment I walk through security you can’t keep me company. I already checked in my flight and I just have my carry on." Nino rolled his eyes, this wasn’t the first time he took a plane. 

"You got everything you need?" Jun asked before Sho opened his mouth.

"Yes, your friend already emailed me to tell me my stuff arrived. Thanks for helping me find a cheap place to live at, J. I knew I could count on you and your gazillion of contacts." Nino winked at Jun.

Aiba had a firm hold on Nino's carry on and Nino knew he wouldn’t let go so easily, judging by the wet look in his eyes. 

"J, stay gold. I will send you postcards. Sho, don't fret. I will text you the moment I land and probably a dozen of time after that when I’m bored in the taxi." Nino leaned and gave his cousin a quick but firm hug. He leaned back to give one to Jun.

"I will see you in a month or so when I go anyway." Jun said trying to act like the cool world traveler that he was. "Let me know if there is anything you need me to bring you. Some Japanese food are hard to find in LA."

"Sure." Nino nodded before steeling himself to deal with the other two.

"Aiba-shi..." Nino began before he saw the tears falling on Aiba’s cheeks. He reached over and whacked him hard on the head. Aiba dissolves into a fit of giggle and it was easier to make him leaned over to hug him.

"I asked Becky to watch over you because you're an idiot but don't you dare get sick when I’m not here to tell you off in person." Nino said fiercely. 

"Promise." Aiba muttered against Nino’s ear. There was something wet on Nino’s neck but he assumed that it was tears and not saliva.

It took a few try but Aiba disengaged and all that Nino was left with was Satoshi at his side. Nino was just glad that they had said their official goodbye was earlier. Not that this wasn’t any less painful.

Ohno stepped in his embrace and held him tight. 

"I will see you soon Taka." Nino said, trying to look up towards the sky to keep the tears from coming. 

“I will be here Yuuji.” Ohno promised, never missing a beat. Nino sighed and Ohno let go of him at once, knowing that Nino was at his limits. He winked at the other three and started walking towards the airport entrance.

"Bye!"

"Safe flight!"

"Don't forget us!"

At the last one Nino turned to throw a look at Aiba. He was going to yell something mean but seeing all four in a line griping each other, Nino felt the ire from the inane comment immediately fade. He waved back a few times before the doors and walked quickly inside when he felt tears burning his eyes. He was going to make it and he wasn't going to make it a waste. He had to, if only to justify leaving and making all of them cry.


End file.
